Pen Argyl seeks landfill answers

Borough gets grant to conduct health survey.

October 19, 2002|By Tom Coombe Of The Morning Call

Pen Argyl residents who want the borough to study the health effects of Grand Central Sanitary Landfill will get their wish.

The state Department of Community and Economic Development will give Pen Argyl a $10,000 community revitalization grant, allowing the borough to conduct a health survey of residents living near the landfill, which is in Plainfield Township.

State Sen. Lisa Boscola, D-Northampton, will present a check Tuesday afternoon to officials at Borough Hall, and the borough can expect to get the money within six weeks. Borough Manager James Veteran said last week the money will allow the borough to do one study.

Pen Argyl had asked the state Department of Health to study the landfill this year, but the state rejected the idea, saying such a study would not offer conclusive results.

The state and Grand Central have offered to study cancer statistics in the landfill area, but the borough argues that most of the health problems involve respiratory illnesses or birth defects.

Cancer has never been an issue, Mayor Judith Piper said. We were looking at a way to survey people. And were not talking just Pen Argyl residents, were talking about people in a certain radius.

Piper said the study would include residents within a five-mile radius of the landfill, looking for patterns of health problems.

When the landfill began its unsuccessful attempt to expand last year, some residents told the Plainfield supervisors they or their families suffered from ailments caused by the landfill. Grand Centrals attorneys have argued there is no connection between the landfill and health problems.